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Reuters: White House finds no evidence of spying by Huawei, feels unsafe anyway (update: White House denies)
Just last week, a Congress committee associated Huawei with "credible allegations" of "bribery, corruption, discriminatory behavior and copyright infringement." The report, of course, was part of the Legislative branch's ongoing concern of the company's alleged threat to national security. Today Huawei may have finally caught a break from the US government, albeit a somewhat backhanded one: according to Reuters, a White House ordered review says that there is no evidence of spying on the Chinese company's part. The other side of the hand lands when the report cites exploitable vulnerabilities in Huawei hardware -- one person familiar with the White House review said it found the company's equipment "riddled with holes," and susceptible to hacking. Security complaints aside, the government's old spying concerns are still there. "China has the means, opportunity and motive to use telecommunications companies for malicious purposes," said the House Intelligence Committee's Dutch Ruppersberger, explaining to Reuters that both Huawei and ZTE has pinned their limited cooperation on restrictions from the local government. Even if Huawei hasn't been caught spying, it's still something it could do -- and that's reason enough, it seems, for the US government to avoid doing business with the firm. Update: White House spokesperson Caitlin Hayden told The Hill that no such investigation has been made, stating: "The White House has not conducted any classified inquiry that resulted in clearing any telecom equipment buyer as reported in Reuters," recalling the US government's exclusion of Huawei in the planning for America's interoperable wireless emergency network.
Huawei and ZTE cry foul at US Congress' accusations, say the report was rigged
Chinese telecoms giants Huawei and ZTE have responded to Congress' claims that neither company could be trusted to sell hardware to the US. Both feel that they've been victimized, with ZTE pointing out that since no Chinese company is "free from state influence," the report should have included every tech business based there. Huawei, on the other hand, took a more resigned (albeit snarky) tone, saying that the committee was "committed to a predetermined outcome," and that the business is no different from any Silicon Valley start-up. With the ball firmly in Congress' court, it remains to be seen what action the government will take, but we suspect this one's got the capacity to run and run.
